The Great Hero
by Angel of Death2
Summary: Think of all those light hearted fantasy stories and stick in the GWing people and there you go! lol some mild hinted at romance. 1xR, 2xH, 3xC, 4xD, 5xS, 6x9!
1. Default Chapter

The Great Hero

Chapter one; In Which Duo Arrives, and Other Characters Appear.

By: the Angel of Death

Disclaimer: not mine, everyone got that? Perfect! Have a good Monday!

AN!: This isn't suppose to be a hardcore deeply emotional story, it's just good fun! So please kindly step around the plot holes and enjoy! =^_~=

~*~

Duo woke up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He couldn't completely remember what happened… something about Quatre's house and a bottle… smoke maybe? He sighed in frustration, and looked around. He saw in all directions nothing but large groupings of old trees. A forest. This didn't look like any forest he had ever seen though, the trees, despite their age showed no sign of decay. He expected to hear the songs of birds, but instead heard strange growls and singing, neither belonged to any bird he had ever heard! The forest seemed timeless… almost magical. 

He snorted, 'yeah right. I really doubt there's fairies and unicorns in there fighting off the evil dragon and wizards…I'm sure the forest is full of nasty animals just waitin' to eat me! Not enchant me!'

"Ah damn!" he mumbled as he stood up and brushed the dust off his black cloak and pants. "Wait a second! I wasn't wearing this earlier!!" the first thing that entered Duo's mind was that to change clothing, he would have had to have been naked. He checked himself quickly… yep, completely naked. 'Uh-oh… I hope it was Hilde! Please God let it have been Hilde!' he thought as he examined his clothing more closely.

He wore a long black, sleeveless cloak that ended at his ankles. His shirt was also black, it had short sleeves, and little tabs on either side of it to tie it closed. Who ever had dressed Duo had seen fit to leave it open, exposing his broad chest. He wore loose black pants that were tucked into mid-calf black leather boots. Around his waist was a loose brown belt, that had small pockets stitched into it. 'Wonder what would fit in something so small?' he wondered as he looked at the inside of his cloak, finding it lined with more pockets of all shapes and sizes.

Duo, satisfied with what he was wearing, it was his colour after all! Decided to look about and walked around the forest clearing. 

He heard a ruffling noise from above him and looked up, hoping maybe it was someone with some answers.

"Who be'est thou?" came a deep voice from the top most branches of the old tree.

Duo looked up and saw only a pair of golden eyes gazing at him, the rest of the creature's body hidden by the darkness of the treetop. He felt uneasy, he had never seen such inhuman eyes. These seemed able to pierce his very soul, the idea alarmed him to say the least. "Umm, Duo Maxwell…" he said unsure of what his answer might mean. 

"Did thou say 'Maxwell? Be thou the Maxwell of yonder villa?" the voice asked.

Duo wished the voice would speak normal English, he hadn't done very well on the Shakespeare part of his English classes the odd occasions he had gone to school. Not that he had gone all that often. He couldn't. He was always too busy flying around in space with the other Gundam pilots trying to save the world. Sadly, Duo's education took a back seat to that. 

He had been lucky though, he had the most amazing girl friend on the planet. He didn't think he could live without Hilde, he was glad that he had ended up on the path he walked. Sure a proper education would have been nice, but he had real friends. People he would know for the rest of his life. He thought of the other guys for a second before realizing that the voice might be getting a little impatient.

He straightened and said; "I don't know. I just woke up." Thinking the voice might know more about what was going on then he did, Duo asked, "Wheream I?"

"Thou knowest not? Ah, 'tis a grave misfortune that. One who lackest the knowledge of his whereabouts, 'oft knows not where he goes." The voice said.

Duo swore the voice was doing that on purpose! He hadn't understood more then a few words that time, "Right… so anyways, where am I?"

"Thou be'est in the Vanishing Forrest of the northern lands! How does it come to pass that a Maxwell possesses not this information?"

"I don't know! Why is it so impressive that I'm a Maxwell!?" Duo was getting really annoyed by this point, "What are you anyways?!"

The eyes in the tree blinked, then shut. Duo watched a blur flash by him as something landed at his feet.

"Oh God…" Duo felt ready to faint when he saw the owner of the voice.

Green, very green with golden horns, large wings, a tail with a single tipped plate on the end that was also gold, sharp pointy teeth, golden claws and very bad breath.

Yes indeed this was a dragon.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Duo yelled, he turned to the dragon, "There is no such thing as Dragons! And shouldn't you be bigger?!"

True the dragon was only six feet long, not counting it's four foot long tail, "I am not fully matured as of yet!" now it sounded angry, "Thou ist rude! Rudeness to one of Magical Birth! 'tis not something to be takenest lightly!" the dragon barred it's golden teeth and growled at Duo.

"Whoa!" Duo put his hands in front of him protectively, "Look, I'm sorry! I'm a little out of it! I don't even know where I am!" he said, backing away.

The dragon snorted, steam escaping from it's nostrils. "Very well, thou shal'nt be my meal." The dragon stood taller, "I am called Wakai Ryu!"

Duo grinned, "Nice ta meet ya Wakai!"

Wakai grinned, "And thou as well Sir Maxwell!"

"Um, Wakai, any chance you could tone down the langue a bit? Sorry man, but you're makin my head hurt!"

Wakai laughed, "As you wish, I only talk like that because the elders make us!" He sounded relived Duo didn't blame him. If he was forced to talk like that, a request not to would seem like the best thing in the world. Duo looked at the dragon as he continued, "So you really have no idea where you are?"

"Not a clue!'

"Hmmm, odd…" Wakai seemed deep in thought for a moment then looked up at Duo then into the forest, "Sir Maxwell, you are on a quest. If you head off in that direction," Wakai pointed to the left, " you will come to a pond. Wait there until you receive further instructions." Wakai spread his wings, and shook the pouch he wore around his neck off. He picked the leather pouch up delicately between two golden claws and handed it to Duo, "Take this. It contains several items you will need on your quest."

Duo looked skeptical, the bag was no bigger then the palm of his hand. The pouch felt like it was made of leather, but softer. Duo really didn't want to know what snow-white creature had lost skin to make this beautiful pouch. On the front of it a small ivory(well Duo thought it was ivory) was carved in the shape of a crescent moon and sewn on. Smaller round beads of indigo surrounded it. He didn't think that there could be a heck of a lot of useful things in it, but he said nothing.

Wakai turned and walked a little ways away from Duo before spreading his massive wings, "Good luck Sir Maxwell! And remember, above all else; when you receive advice, follow it!" with that Wakai flew off into the mid day sky leaving Duo very confused.

"HEY!! Wait!! Come back!" Duo yelled at Wakai's retreating form, "Damnit! Now what?" 

'Follow advice…. That's what Wakai said…' Duo thought about it for a second, "Ah why not? Beats standing around here." With that Duo headed in the direction the dragon had indicated with a sigh. He hopped he wouldn't be stuck wandering around a deep dark forest for very long. He was hungry.

~*~

After several hours of walking, Duo had yet to reach the pond Wakai had told him about. "So much for following advice…" he mumbled out loud as he sat down on a large rock and placed his head in his hands.

Suddenly he felt the rock shake slightly, and a young man's voice seemed to come from beneath him.

"I realize you're upset sir, but could you GET OFF ME!!!"

Duo screamed and fell in a heap to the ground. Looking at the rock he saw a young boy's facial features appear in the rock. "Who… Who are you..!?" Duo said as he finally got up enough nerve to crawl back to the rock.

"I'm a prince!" the rock-boy said cheerfully, "Well, I was until my fairy god mother decided that she wanted to rule and cast me into another dimension." He finished with a sigh, "She is a kind person deep down though."

"Right…. I'm sure she is, but umm… why are you in a rock?" Duo asked, thinking the boy was completely insane.

"Oh! I can appear in this dimension through certain objects. This rock that has caught the blood of a Unicorn and a Griffon, umm the Green Flame that can only be called upon if a person skilled in magic has the Jade Scale. Stuff like that. I'm really not a rock." The rock-boy smiled.

"That actually makes a little sense, but why are you here now?" Duo asked, he was starting to wonder about this place.

"I'm waiting for Mr. Maxwell. Mr. Wakai Ruy told me to give him directions when he reached the Golden Pond." The rock-boy paused for a second and studied Duo carefully, "You wouldn't happen to be Mr. Maxwell, would you?"

Duo nodded, "That's me! So where's this pond?"

The rock-boy laughed in delight, "Oh! I'm so glad I found you Mr. Maxwell! I have only been here for two hours! I was beginning to think I'd missed you! And wouldn't that be horrible! Could you imagine, having to wander alone on your quest with no idea where to head next? The very idea!"

"Right.. well I'm glad you found me, now about this pond..?"

"Oh! Of course! Forgive me, I have a habit of talking very quickly when excited." The rock-boy seemed to pick up on Duo's growing desire to hurt him because he continued, "The pond, of course! It's just up ahead beyond that large tree!"

Duo nodded, "Thanks." He was about to leave when the rock-boy spoke again.

"Oh! You can't go yet! I have to give you instructions or Mr. Wakai Ryu will get angry!" he said, he really sounded afraid of the young dragon Duo had befriended. Duo was beginning to think that maybe that hadn't been such a good idea.

"Anyway, it was entrusted to me to tell you how to use the Unicorn's Pouch around your next and direct you to Miss Sally. She is expecting you, you know." Duo was getting impatient again, "The pouch, of course! It's simple! You tell it what you want, close your eyes, rube the piece of horn and poof! It's there! This pouch can create anything, but you have to be polite to it or it won't work!" The rock-boy looked sad for a moment, "There's only a hundred of those that were made, all from the same poor Unicorn! Don't you find it cruel to kill such a beautiful creature? Just thinking about it makes me want to cry!" the rock-boy sniffed a couple of times, then composed himself.

"Oh! And Miss Sally! You have to go to the other side of the pond, walk twenty minutes to the north, then you'll see mountains starting. Walk towards the mountains until you reach a house. Miss Sally is waiting for you!" he finished with a smile, under his breath Duo swore he heard the rock mutter, "…in Heero's words, 'mission accomplished'…" But he couldn't be sure.

"Thank you… uuh…I still don't know you're name…." Duo apologized.

The rock-boy smiled, "It's Prince Quatre! Good luck Mr. Maxwell! I know you'll do well!" with that the boy's face became a rock face once again and Duo was left alone.

"Well, now that I know how this thing works…!" he said as he pulled the Unicorn's Pouch off his neck and rubbed the horn fragment, he closed his eyes and said, "I really want a full course meal!"

"Mmmm no." came a feminine voice from the pouch.

"HEY! Why not?" Duo wined, "I'm really hungry!"

"You sir are just not polite!" the pouch complained.

"If I say please will you forgive me?" he pleased.

The pouch said nothing, the pink glow that was coming from the horn fragment had stopped glowing. Duo sighed, he was really really hungry! He rubbed the horn again and said, "I'm really sorry! Please PLEASE make me a full course meal? PLEASE?!" he sounded so desperate that the pouch couldn't help but laugh.

"Pathetic! HAHAHA!" she made a sound as though she was clearing her throat, "Alright Duo Maxwell! Just this once I'll forgive you! But next time… next time you'd better be polite to unicorns! Even if they are dead!" there was a puff of pink smoke and a large full course meal appeared before him. 

"Oh, and by the way! My name is Lady Une! You sir will call me that from now on, or I will refuse to grant your requests!" with a bright flash of pink the horn's glow faded and then disappeared all together.

"Geez… How did I get stuck with such a touchy magic pouch…?" he grumbled as he began to eat the semi burnt food Lady Une had left for him. 'This is what I get for being rude isn't it? Flat, warm coke…. Dumb pouch…' he had half a mind to dump it in the pond when he finally got to it, whenever that may be. 

He started on his soggy salad and began to think about this sudden, strange, turn of events. He tried to remember exactly how he had come to be in this place. He concentrated, and was finally able to come up with half a story. 

~*~

"Quatre man! This is the best party yet!" Duo laughed as he drowned his first, but most definitely not last beer of the evening.

Hilde stood beside him and raised her beer in a toast, "Yeah! Here's to having insanely rich friends!"Everyone whooped and drowned their beers, or in Quatre's case coke.

The party continued long into the night, Duo had found another liquor stash in the library and proceeded to sample as many bottles as possible. Hilde always at his side.

"I'm gonna beat ya this time babe!" Duo said, surprisingly coherent for someone who had drunk as much as he had.

"No way Shini-baby! Your ass is so mine!" she said as she finished off another bottle. And promptly passed out.

"Ah nuts! Babe! Wake up! It's no fun playin' alone!" he wined as he moved closer to her. "Hey! I know this! You're that sleepin' chick right? 'nd I'm the super hot prince thingy that has to wake you up!" he proceeded to kiss Hilde, only to frown when she didn't wake up. "Heyyy! That's not how the story ends! Babe you're not playin' right!" he complained, "If ya don't get up I'm gonna tell Quatre! He'll make ya play fair!" Duo stood on shaky legs and walked up the stairs to Quatre's new 'game room'.

Black spot

"Hey!! Look! It's that lamp thingy from that movie! Y'know? The one with the big blue thingy?" Duo asked as he took the lid off the oil lamp, "Hellllloooo? Big blue guy? You in there?" Duo pouted as nothing came out.

"Hey Quatre! You're big blue guy holder's broke! He's not commin' out!" Duo wined as he began shaking the lamp.

"Duo, where did you get that?" Quatre asked with worry as Duo began to rub the lamp.

"The locked thing. It was locked so I smashed it." He said matter of fact as he continued to rub the lamp.

Then something amazing happened, something that would alter history as we know it.

Quatre swore.

"Shit! Duo! NO!!!"he dove at Duo, trying to knock the lamp out of his hands, but he was too slow and there was a puff of green smoke.

Black spot

The only other thing Duo remembered saying was, "I wanna be the really hot guy thingy that wakes Hilde up!" There was another puff of green smoke and Duo's world turned black.

~*~

"Wait a minute! That makes no sense!" Duo grumbled as he rubbed his temples. "There's no such thing as Genies right? They only exist in Disney movies right? RIGHT?! Ah man, I'm losin' it! Shinnigami has finally gone insane." He said as he flopped backwards on the grass.

He gazed up at the sky for nearly an hour when the pouch around his neck started to glow again.

"Ah damnit! Now what?" he demanded.

"Hmph! Aren't we in a rare mood." Lady Une said, Duo just grumbled and she continued, "Lazy Duo when are you going to get around to seeing Sally? I'm certain she won't be happy at having been kept waiting by a young boy." She finished, as though it was of no consequence to her, and as far as Duo knew it wasn't.

But he on the other hand…

"AH!!!! NO! I'm late!" he stopped for a second, "I think I'm late!! I don't even know what I might be late for!" he was about to start running in the direction Quatre had indicated, when Lady Une spoke up again, "Hold it! You sir will clean up this mess! If I HAVE to be stuck with you I'd rather you cleaned up after yourself." She mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'pig'. 

Duo cleaned up faster then he had ever cleaned in his life and ran like a mad man towards the pond.

~*~

Panting and out of breath, Duo arrived at the pond an hour latter. He fell onto the ground in a heap and waited to catch his breath before finally standing up again.'Hmph, well this puddle certainty deserves it's name…' he thought as he admired the sheer golden coloured water of the pond. 'Wonder how it got like that…?' he thought as he looked around. Another clearing, a crystal clear stream feed into the pond and then disappeared into the distance on either side of him. 

"So, what was I suppose to do again? Get to the pond… ummm…. Some other stuff…. Miss Sally! Ha! It makes perfect sense!" he grinned as he began to plan out a step by step plan, "Step one: Get to pond. Step two:… Step three: Miss Sally! Who ever that is!" he laughed out loud, proud of himself for remembering all that information.

"Ok! Now how do I get to Miss Sally's place?" he looked to the left, then to the right. He looked in front of him, then behind.

Eventually Duo just closed his eyes and spun around until he pointed in one of the directions he was certain he had not come from. 

South.

~*~

Duo walked happily, knowing that he was finally on his way to getting some answers. He was already pretty sure that some of the people he had met there should have been familiar to him. But he couldn't place them.

'Weird….' He thought as he finally approached a small stone house. He looked around for the mountains Quatre had spoken of, but found none. 'Maybe I went in the wrong direction…?' he thought before dismissing the idea. He hadn't been in any danger yet. What were the odds of something really bad happening to him this far into his journey. He had already met a dragon, a talking rock and a moody pouch.

"And 'sides, what could possibly be worse then traveling with Lady Une?" he said with a laugh.

What Duo didn't know is that he had just brought the worst evil of them all on himself….

Irony….

Duo approached the house and knocked on the old wooden door, "Hello? Miss Sally? Ya in there?" he asked as he continued to bang on the door.

After a few minutes the door open to revile a young man with dark hair pulled into a ponytail and slanted black eyes. He was dressed in a cloak of midnight blue that was fastened in the front, as to conceal any other clothing the man might be wearing. 

"Who are you, " the man looked Duo over, "peasant?"

Duo frowned, "Hey, no need to be mean buddy, I just wanna know if that Miss Sally girl is here."

The other man's eyes widened slightly, "Injustice! Why must you bring up that woman's name in my presence!" he growled.

"Duo was taken aback, "Whoa… sorry man, I'm just lookin' for her like the rock guy and the dragon told me to! Ya don't have ta be so nasty!" Duo said as he took a few steps back. "I'm guessin she's not here, so I'll take off." He turned to leave when the other man's voice stopped him.

"A dragon sent you?" he inquired.

"Yeah, Wakai."

"Wakai Ruy…." The other man trailed off, a far away look in his eyes. After a moment he seemed to come back to reality and turned to walk back inside his house, "Come inside, I need to speak to you, but touch anything. ANYTHING. And I will have to kill you." 

Duo shrugged and followed his not so nice companion inside.

"So, why does talking about that Miss Sally make ya so… uhh… angry?" Duo asked as he sat down at a table in the center of the main room. 

In the corner was a larger hearth with a blazing fire. Suspended above that was a large cauldron. Duo noted the walls were lined with book and various weapons, some Duo had never seen before. They all seemed to be blades of once kind or another though. Nothing more advanced then the sword. Against one wall was a shelf of nothing but strange bottles and boxes. Some looked so odd that even Duo didn't want to know what was in them.

Duo's host looked up at the mention of the name again, it seemed he was in pain when ever Duo said it, "It is none of your business weakling. Only the great hero who has come to save us from the greatest evil this world has ever faced may gain that knowledge."

Duo smirked, "Would that great hero's name happen to be Maxwell?" he asked.

The other man's eyes became wide, "You must be joking, you cannot be the one to save us." The man walked over to a bookshelf, after selecting a very old, well read book and leafing though it. He slammed the book shut with a frown and looked up to the sky.

"INJUSTICE!!!!!" He screamed so loud that Duo winced and covered his ears. "Why did they have to send this weakling?!" the man demanded as he shoved the book back into it's place.

As soon as the man stopped Duo rubbed his poor ears and gave him a strange look, "So yeah, make with some answers."

The man looked Duo over once again, he looked at the pouch around Duo's neck and then moved closer to Duo. Much to Duo's surprise he flipped open the 'great hero's' cloak and looked at one of the inside pockets. "That's odd…. The golden thread isn't there… how could he have gotten here….no……..

That's not there either" he said as he looked at Duo's boots."….well what about…?" the man looked at Duo's belt, then back at his face, "You idiot, where are your other items? You are missing six of them!" the man demanded.

"What other items? I just got here!!" he protested.

"You mean, you haven't been to see Sally or the others yet?"

Duo shook his head, "Nope! Other then Wakai and that rock guy Quatre, you're the only person I've met!"

The man groaned and placed his head in his hands, "You moron! Don't you listen to instructions when they are given?!"

"I did! Quatre said to go to the pond and find Sally. I did, are you Sally?" he asked, not seeing how the man in front of him could possibly be a woman.. unless Miss Sally was a man? That didn't make sense, 'Besides, he reasoned, this guy freaks out when I say her name…'

"No you idiot! My name is Chang Wuffie! I am- well never mind what I am. That will be reviled at the proper time. For now, the only thing you need to know is that you went in the completely wrong direction! Idiot! You went SOUTH instead of NORTH! How dense could one person be?" he growled, he did not sound happy about Duo's mix up.

"Heyy! It's not my fault I got lost ok?!" he shouted as he jumped out of his chair, "I've never been here before so just BACK OFF!!" 

Wuffie seemed surprised at the out burst, then an emotion that resembled admiration crossed his face, "Hmm…, perhaps you are not the weakling I once thought you were." Wuffie crossed the room and took a jar off a shelf and brought it to the table where Duo was seated. 

"Since you have actually proven that you have a back bone, I'll send you to Sally's house. On one condition."

Duo perked up at the idea of not having to walk anymore, "Sure! What is it?" 

Wuffie snapped his fingers and the jar was wrapped and a sealed envelope adorned it, "You take this to her. I cannot give you your item yet, since they have to be given at certain times. But I will help you get back on track." 

Duo was confused, "Items? What do I need with 'items'?"

Wuffie sighed, and mumbled, "I will destroy that pansy Quatre. He was suppose to explain all this…" to Duo he said, "You are on a quest. Why will be revealed to you at the end, when all trials are completed. Along the way, you will hopefully meat up with several people, or creatures, that will assist you by giving you items passed down through their family lines since the time of the last Great Hero 500 years ago. These items, such as the Unicorn Pouch, will be of great use to you in the future." He paused for a moment and his gaze darkened, "Of course, as in all things there will be obstacles for you to face, enemies to defeat and so on. These items will not only help you accomplish your quest faster, but will aid in the defeat of those who would harm you."

Duo didn't seem to like the sound of that, "Foes? Who? How do I tell the good guys from the bad?"

Wuffie shrugged, "I don't know! I'm not the fortuneteller idiot! Just use your judge of character!" he said with a snort, "Now! If you don't mind! I have things to do before I can be ready for our next meeting." He said as he stood and walked to the door behind Duo, the jar in his hands."Do not forget to give this to Sally when you arrive." He said as he placed the jar in Duo's pocket.

Duo nodded, "Sure thing man, I'll tell her it's from you with love!" he grinned.

Wuffie blanched, "You…. You…!" he turned red and stuck a finger out towards the north, "Get out of my sight!" In a puff of smoke Duo was gone, and Wuffie's house was out of sight.

Duo slammed into a rather large tree and tried in vain to catch the tweetie birds flying around his head.

When he finally came to his senses Duo found himself in the garden of a nice looking house. There was a white picket fence and rose gardens all around it. Even if the roses were black, the idea was nice.

The house itself couldn't have been any cleaner. Duo couldn't find a single speck of dust anywhere he looked. "Man, there's something seriously wrong with this Sally chick…" he mumbled to himself as he approached the door.

"Why is that?" asked a whinny voice from Duo's feet.

"AHHH!!!!" Duo jumped three feet in the air before composing himself and looking down. "Oh you're kidding me!!!"

"I think I may just resent that, well I would, if I didn't know for a fact that you are a kind person." The flower looked at him with a smile.

"Quatre, why are you a flower?" Duo asked, he was really starting to wonder about that boy. 

"Oh! I can appear anywhere on Miss Sally's property!" he said cheerfully.

Duo knelt down and tried not to laugh at the fact that he was talking to the only pink rose in the entire garden, "Why is that?"

"Oh! I can't tell you! Only Miss Sally and her closest friends like Mr. Chang, you've met him right? Why didn't you go the way I told you to? Did you forget? Ah that's ok, not everyone is perfect! But everyone is a kind person." Quatre became a little side tracked and after Duo reminded him what was going on he continued, "Oh! But now you have to go met her! You have already wasted enough time! Please hurry before you waste more time then we can afford." With that Quatre's face disappeared and the rose returned to it's normal black colour.

"That makes me wonder…." Duo laughed and stood up, he approached the door, and with out future ado, knocked.

~*~

End chapter one!!!


	2. Women, Basilisks and a rock named Quatre...

The Great Hero

Chapter two: Women, Basilisks and a rock named Quatre!

Disclaimer: Once again NOT MINE. Everybody got that? I'm so glad! Have a good Monday!

A/N: You like me! You really like me! *sniff…* lol, anyways! Thanks so much for all support! This chapter starts to get a little more serious…. BLEH! I hate seriousness! Well when I write it anyways! Some of you guys out there… WOW! Man… I'm rambling aren't I?

Shoulder Mini Angel of Death: Are you ever.

Me: Blah.. anyways! I hope you all enjoy! Please review! I worked really hard to get this one out!! You'll make me cry…. Sniff.. sniff…. Lol.

OH! One more thing… I know I spelt Wufie's name wrong… I'M SORRY!! He's me fav character and I wrote the first part a few months ago when I still hated him! I'm SORRY!!!!!

~*~

Duo stood outside the small house for almost ten minutes, and was getting annoyed, 'Might as well just leave…' he thought as he turned around and prepared to do just that.

"Where are you going oh great hero?" came a serious female voice from directly behind him.

Duo jumped and whipped around, "Who are you?!" he demanded in surprise, even though he knew the answer.

The woman smirked and Duo looked her over.

Long blond hair hung in two twisted braids over her white robe clad body. Many golden chains of all different sizes and shapes that clanged together as she walked accented her dress. The many layers of the dress and pure white cape hid her feet. Her bright blue eyes seemed to laugh at him as his jaw dropped open in shock.

"You know exactly who I am, fool. Do not ask such questions, they only waste time. And that is something we no longer have in abundance." She said as she turned to walk back into her house, "Hurry and follow me, I have many things to tell you before you set off towards the sea."

Duo looked at her retreating form confused, "Why would I go to the sea?" he asked as he followed her into the house.

Sally turned to him, "You don't know?" she turned and walked to a large chair in one corner of the main room, flopping into it she sighed, "Damn that Quatre! He was supposed to explain all this!"

"So I've heard." Duo mumbled as he looked around. He was in a cozy looking house, practical, but still pleasant. Much different then Wuffie's dire cottage. This house was full of windows and paintings, granted they were paintings of dragons and other beasts ripping humans apart, but they were paintings none the less. There were doors all over the place. Duo did a double take when he saw a door in the middle of the room, there was no walls connected to it, only a frame and the door itself. Duo shook his head, where could a door like that go? If it even had a purpose that it.

Duo scanned the room one last time and determined that it was a room that couldn't hold more then ten people comfortably and there were at least two dozen doors. 

Sally looked Duo over, "Who told you that?"

"Some guy with a major attitude problem. I think his name was Wufie." He said.

Sally smiled softly, "Yeah that sounds like Wufie…." Duo's words seemed to fully sink in and she looked up at him a little confused, "How do you know Wufie?"

Duo looked sheepish, "Um, I kinda took a wrong turn…"

Sally shook her head, but didn't comment. "Well, getting back to the business of your quest…" she pulled a book off of a shelf and opened it to reveal, not pages but a false cover that contained a key.

"What's that for?" Duo asked.

Sally ached an eyebrow at him then moved towards the door in the center of the room. She unlocked it and entered, it much to Duo's surprise she didn't come out the other side, and instead she vanished. Or entered a secrete room, he couldn't tell which. 

Sally's voice called to him from the door, "What do you prefer? Sword of Truth, Bow made from Dragon's bones, quiver and arrows made by centaurs, scythe owned by the Grim Reaper, Mallet of justice, mace made by The Black Knight, Daggers of the Night, Winged Sandals of Hermes…" there was a loud bang and Sally said, "Oops, scratch the sandals. So what do you want?"

Duo thought about it for about two seconds before responding, "Gimme the scythe!"

Sally emerged from the door with a large scythe, she locked the door behind her and handed Duo the weapon. "Here, you'll need this, you can strap it to you back with this." She said as she gave him a leather sheath that would go over one shoulder. Duo put it on right away and marveled at the exact fit.

"Wow! This fits great!" he said as he ran his fingers over the soft detailed leather. There were patterns of dragons and trees carved into it. 

Sally shook her head, "Well of course it is!" she exclaimed, "It was made for you." She shook her head, "Heroes these days know nothing of fate!" she mumbled as she put the key back and moved towards another door, "Since we really don't have time for you to get lost, I'll…Duo, stop swinging the scythe in my house or I'll use it on your hair!"

Duo dropped the scythe and his hands flew to his braid, "You wouldn't!"

Sally smirked, 'Man does she look like Wuffie when she does that... Hey! Speaking of the guy!' he thought as he pulled out the jar that Wuffie had given him. "This is for you from Wuffie with love." He said as he handed it to her.

Sally blushed slightly, as she took the jar. She examined it and stood up, "Well, now I have a call to make." She walked over to one of the doors and opened it, "If you go through there, you'll get to a kitchen, help yourself to some food." She said as closed the door behind her.

Duo was left alone in a house full of very breakable objects. Very valuable impossible to replace breakable objects. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

He moved towards the door Sally had indicated and entered, he was surprised to find a kitchen on the other side. And not a little kitchen, the kind one would expect to find in a house that holds only one woman. No, this kitchen could easily fit twenty full-grown dragons comfortably. 

"Man! Now what?" he asked as he shut the door behind him.

"What do you mean, now what? Now you eat stupid!"

Duo groaned and covered his eyes against the purple light. "What do you want Lady Une?"

He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a snort come from the bag, "Hmph! You know you could be a little more polite to me, Weakling! I am stuck with you for the rest of this quest, and who knows how much longer after that!" she took in a deep breath, "So you pathetic excuse for a hero! You'd better shape up! Or this whole quest will fail!" there was another purple flash and the bag fell silent.

"Well at least she shut up…" Duo felt a shock run through his body and heard the bag laugh again.

"What was that for?!" he demanded.

Lady Une laughed some more, "You're rude! Until you're polite, I'll be rude too!"

"Isn't shocking someone considered cruel, not rude."

"Now you call me cruel as well as rude?!"

Duo was shocked again, and fell to his knees.

"Now that's exactly how a man should be." Came a female's voice form the other end of the kitchen, "On his knees."

Duo looked around and saw a girl with short blue hair and large butter fly style wings before him. She was only a few inches shorter then him, and was quite beautiful. She wore a long form fitting sleeveless silver dress with an almost indecent neckline. Duo looked closely at her face and noticed that her ears were quite long and pointed. Her features were delicate, and her midnight blue eyes intoxicating.

"Who are you?" Duo asked as he slowly climbed to his feet.

"My name's Noin!" she smiled as she said it, "I'm visiting my dear friend Sally. Who are you?"

Duo found it hard to make simple words come out of his mouth, "I uhh… I'm…"

Noin giggled; "I think that's a complement!" she laughed and walked until she was within two feet of Duo, "You hungry?"

Duo could only nod, that simple thing called articulation was escaping him at the moment. 

With a flash of her wings a feast appeared before them, "Enjoy."

"Oh wow!!" hey! He could talk again! "By the way, the name's Duo, Duo Maxwell."

An astonished look crossed her petite face, "THE Duo Maxwell?!" she squeaked as she moved to touch him.

He nodded, "If ya mean that great hero guy, 'sme."

There was a puff of smoke, and Noin disappeared.

Duo looked in the direction she had been and shrugged. He was getting use to the strange way people came and went in this place.So as oppose to sitting around worrying about it he turned to the food in front of him and with a feral grin dove in.

~*~

Sally came back a few minutes latter to find her kitchen a total disaster. "What have you done to my house?!" she groaned as she leaned back against one of the cupboards. 

Duo looked up innocently, "I ate."

Sally rubbed her temples, "I sure am glad Wufie gave me this." She said as she dug out the bottle. She popped it open and a super-dragon-strength cleaning spell went to work.

Within a few seconds the room was back to normal. Sally glared at Duo and grabbed his braid, "You come with me! We're going out side then YOU are being teleported to the sea to meet up with Princess Relena. She has something for you!" she said as she dragged him though her house, making sure not to use the magical door and drag him as far as possible. 

"OOOW! Hey!" Dup protested, "Let me go I can walk!"

Sally pretended to not hear him and hummed happily to herself as she inflicted pain on the most idiotic man she had ever met.

Well besides Wufie but that was another matter entirely. 

As they reached the garden Sally dropped Duo and raised her hands in the air. Deciding to waste no time she recited the shortest teleportation spell she knew and waved as Duo vanished and left her in peace. 

~*~

Duo woke up and tried in vain to catch those annoyingly cute birds flying around his head. He would have sat there for who knows how long hade the warm and caring voice of Lady Une spoken up, "Hey moron! Wake up!"

Did I say warm and caring…?

Duo shook his head, "What do you want now?" he asked, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

He felt the all too familiar sensations of an electric shock flood his body, "AH!!"

Lady Une laughed, "Haha! I told you to address me as Lady Une, not 'you' not anything but Lady Une."

Duo ran his fingers through his hair and frowned, "Ok ok, I'm sorry, _Lady Une_. What did you want?"

"I believe you've reached your destination." She was silent for a moment before adding, "Oh, and don't think for one minute I didn't catch the sarcasm in that Mr. All Great Hero." She said before the light faded and he was once again shocked.

"Ow… I'm really starting to hate her…" he mumbled under his breath. Duo looked around and found himself on a beach the waves from the sea crashing against a rock group not far out.

One of the rocks in particular caught his attention, it didn't look right… He moved as close to the water's edge as he dared and looked again. There was someone out there!

"Hey!" Duo called waving his arms, "Hey are you okay!?"

The figure's head turned, reviling it to be a woman with long dirty blond hair. She looked at Duo before jumping off the rock.

"Hey!" Duo yelled as he ran out into the water thinking she had just tried to kill herself. He threw his cloak to the ground along with his shirt and dove in, trying to be heroic and save the girl.

He swam out to where the rock was and looked around, he didn't see her anywhere; he looked down and still couldn't see anything. The water was stronger out here, and Duo was having a hard time staying afloat. He grabbed onto the rock and pulled himself up. He didn't know what had happened to the girl, but if she had gone out much further then he was now, he knew there was no way she could have survived.

He shook his head, "Poor kid…"

"Who sir, are you talking to?" came a cute voice from the water.

Duo looked down and saw the girl swimming in front of the rock looking up at him expectantly. Her hair was decorated with what looked like, (but surly couldn't be!) seaweed and starfish. Her eyes were the same colour as the sea."Hey! You're okay!" he exclaimed.

She looked at him a little confused, "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Umm… Maybe the fact that you just dove into pretty nasty water." He said wondering just how dumb this girl really was.

She just looked at him for a few seconds before a light bulb lit up, "OH! You're Duo Maxwell!" She laughed, probably at her own stupidity, Duo couldn't tell and wasn't about to ask.

"Yea, I am."

She smiled brightly, "My name is Princess Relena. And as you can see the water does not affect me at all.That is because Hero, I'm a mermaid." She said as she flipped a long blue tail out of the water, splashing Duo a little more.

"Hey!" he protested before realizing he was already soaking wet, and it wouldn't hurt. "So, umm… Sally and Quatre all said I was suppose to come see you for something." He said.

Relena nodded, "Right!" she held out her hand, "Come with me Mr. Maxwell!"

Duo looked at her hand for a second before throwing caution to the wind and taking it. Relena grinned and jerked her arm back, making Duo fall into the water headfirst. He tried to pull his arm away, realizing that she was taking him down to the seabed but she seemed stronger then he was! 

Duo began to panic, he was sure the mermaid had a great home and all, but he needed air! 

"Stop panicking Mr. Maxwell. As long as I'm touching you, you can breath underwater. I forgot you aren't familiar with magic." She looked at him, "That's why you couldn't pull your arm away. As long as I'm in the water I posses several magical talents. The ability to drag men down to the bottom of the sea being one of them."

Duo looked at her wide-eyed, and noticed that she wasn't wearing a top! Didn't Mermaids wear those shell thingys? Like in the movies? He shrugged and decided to try very hard not to stare! 

He knew some stories about magical creatures, "Are you the kind of mermaid that'll kill me or make me your husband?" he asked nervously. Not really sure which was worse.

Relena laughed again, "Neither, I'm only going to give you something to help with your quest, then you're off to see…." She looked thoughtful for a moment and ticked off three fingers, "Me…Sally…Wakai…" she snapped her fingers, "Noin and What's his name!"

Duo looked confused, "What's his name?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I don't know what it is about him. Whenever you say his name he gets really mad and disappears in a puff of smoke. It's really annoying to visit Noin for tea not that's she's got What's his name glued to her hip." She said with distain.

Duo shrugged, 'Why not. It seemed in this place anything went…'

They reached the seabed and Relena showed him into her cave, careful not to let go of his arm. 

"Now Duo, she said as she swam around her home dragging him with her, "I'm going to give you several small vials, understand?"

He nodded.

"Excellent, now in these vials are spells, each vial has a different spell ya know?" he nodded and she continued, "There are 10 vials all together, each one is clearly labeled and won't open until you tell it to."

Duo looked confused, "How do I tell it to open?"

"Duh! How do you think? Open Sesame!" she rolled her eyes at him, "Don't you read?"

Duo just shrugged and she continued, "The 10 spells vary, there's a few for healing and stuff like that. Two powerful ice spells… one full blast storm summoner, I'd be careful with that one… umm... three water spells and one teleportation spell to be used for a real emergency! You only get one!" she said meaningfully.

Duo nodded and Relena attached the vials to his belt with a magical string, "Oh before you ask, no they won't fall. It's magic." She said as she placed the last vial, "There done. Let's get going, you have to hurry to see Noin! You were late visiting me!" she sounded upset almost as though she took personal offence to his being late.

"Not my fault!" He protested, "I got lost!"

Relena rolled her eyes and dragged him back up to the surface. 

As they reached air, Duo took a long breath and sighed, it felt good to be able to breath on his own again!

Relena waited as he climbed back up on the rock, "Now! Just so you don't get lost listen carefully! You have to head east until you reach a small inconspicuous cabin. Once there you have to knock three times, and whatever you do. DON'T SAY WHAT'S HIS NAME'S NAME!" She yelled trying to get as least that point across.

Duo nodded, "Ok! I gottcha!" he said with a smile.

Relena watched him walk back to the beach with a sigh, she looked to the dark figure that emerged beside her, "Ten bucks Duo says his name."

The figure nodded, "He's an idiot what do you expect?"

~*~

Duo recovered his clothing and moved on, "East, east, east… okay…"he turned in a circle, "What way's east?"

"That way!" came a voice Duo was getting sick of hearing. He looked down and sure enough there was Quatre's face in yet another rock.

"Hey Quatre I thought you could only appear in certain things. Why this rock?" he asked.

Quatre seemed to space out for a minute, "Oh sorry Duo, anyways! Head in the direction of those large trees I'm sure you'll reach Noin soon!" he said with a smile.

Duo shook his head, the plot holes in this dream or altered reality or whatever where large enough to stick all five gundams in…

A roc flew over head (a.n A roc is a REALLY HUGE bird! Probably the same size if not bigger then a gundam! They eat elephants!) and decided to relieve itself of its lunch on Duo's head.

"EEEEW!!" Duo yelled as he ran back into the water to try to clean himself off. 

Quatre laughed, "He should know better then to say that kind of thing when he's being controlled by one of the fanfiction.net authors…"

Despite being a plot-holed little rock, Quatre wasn't so dumb after all…

Duo managed to clean himself and began walking in the direction Quatre had pointed out. 

He hadn't gotten far when he noticed he was being followed.

"Ok! Who's there! Come out!" he yelled.

A dark figure appeared, "So you are the great hero come to save us from the terrible evil eh?"

Duo sunk into a fighting stance and pulled his scythe out of it's sheath, "What do you want?"

The figure waved a hand in the air, "Just wanted to be the first in line to try to kill you. That's all. I mean really, you didn't think you'd get through two whole chapters without meeting a bad guy did you?" the 'bad guy' laughed.

Duo frowned; he knew it was to good to be true. 

The figure emerged from the shadows and Duo fought back an urge to laugh.

It was a male fairy. A very small very pink male fairy.

"You?! You are a bad guy!?" Duo fell over laughing.

The fairy growled, "Oh shut up! I told you I was the first! You really think the main bad guy's gonna be the first to met you? Nooooo they have to send out the weakest ones first." The fairy shook his head, pink hair falling in his pink eyes, "But that's my job and I'll do it!"

Duo managed to drag himself to his feet as the fairy shot several pink bolts of lightning at Duo.

He dodged them all and ran at the fairy, scythe out and ready to kill. The fairy saw his fate and quickly flew above Duo's head, "Geez! You're not very nice are you? I'm a frickin' pink fairy and what do you do? You pull out the Grim Reaper's scythe! That thing'll kill any one! Immortal or no!" the fairy shook his head, "Unhun, I'm outta here! I have a family too you know!" he flapped his pink wings, "I'll see you at the big climatic battle hero! Oh and the next bad guy should be around soon! You took to long getting to me!" with that the fairy flew away.

Duo re sheathed his scythe and frowned, 'Does everyone have to remind me I got lost… geez...'

He shook his head and kept walking. If everyone was going to bug him about being late then he'd just have to pick up the pace!

He began to run towards the east and hopefully catch up on some lost time. 

~*~

Duo arrived at the small house just before dark. He decided he'd eat before going in. The impression Relena had left on him about the people that lived in the house made him want to spend as little time as possible with them.

"Hey, ummm Lady Une, could you maybe whip me up some dinner? Please?" he said trying his best to be polite because he was really really hungry.

The pouch glowed purple, "My my Duo you are learning." There was another flash of light and a full course meal appeared.

Duo looked it over carefully, it wasn't burnt, it wasn't soggy and, he picked up a coke and drank. THE COKE WASN'T FLAT! Duo felt like jumping for joy, but decided on stuffing his face instead. 

Ten minutes latter he dusted himself off and faced the house, "Okay! Here we go!" he said as he walked to the gate and pushed it open. 

Or tried to anyways…

"Hey! What the…?" Duo pushed harder and still the gate refused to open.

"Do you mind?!" came an irritated voice from the direction of the gate.

'Oh no…. not another one…' he thought with a groan, Duo was getting really sick of all the talking inanimate objects.

"Hello! I'm talkin' to ya! Do ya mind?!" came the gate's voice once again.

Duo looked at the gate, "Um, hey how's it going, you mind opening up so I can get in?" 

"What are you talkin' about? I can't open!" there was a small growling noise and a basilisk popped up. Duo looked at the small lizard in awe.

"Hey what are you?"He asked as he leaned closer.

The basilisk jumped back, "What are ya a fool!? Don't ya know what I am?" he asked.

Duo shook his head and looked closer at the basilisk, "Hey! Funky sunglasses! Can I see them?"

"No ya darn fool! I'm Howard and a basilisk to boot! You take these glasses off me and I look at ya and ya turn into a rock!" Howard said, trying to figure out how such an idiot could possibly exist.

"Really? That would suck! Especially since I'm suppose to save the world. Or something like that."

Howard did a double take, "YOU'RE Duo Maxwell?!"

Duo nodded.

"Ah geez… we're doomed…"

"Hey!" Duo said as he kicked a fair sized rock at Howard.

Howard jumped back and his glasses fell off. Duo jumped away from him and Howard looked out into the forest trying very VERY hard not to look at Duo.

No matter how much he wanted to at the moment.

There was a loud crash from a near by tree, Howard grabbed his glasses and ran over to see what had fallen.

"Hey Duo come look at this!" he called over his shoulder.

"No way! You're going to turn me into a rock! Like Quatre!" Duo thought about that for a minute, "I don't wanna be like Quatre!!" he wined, "He's a wussy!!" Duo was about to start crying when a rock nailed him in the head.

"Will ya shut up?" Howard yelled, "I'm wearin' my glasses!"

Duo looked at him cautiously, "Okay. So what was that crash?"

Howard took one last look at the fallen figure, "Kid I think you're in trouble, that was a Yeck. They're shape shifters that are strong enough to lift mountains. I wouldn't want one of them following me around! They could do some serious damage." He moved towards the body and picked something up.

Duo blinked as his world went white, "What's this?" he asked pulling the cloth off his head.

"That's the Yeck's cap. If ya wear it you get the ability to become invisible." He said.

Duo looked at the cap a second time, "Really?"

Howard nodded, "Yeah but that's not the point. Duo someone's keepin' tabs on ya. I wouldn't be surprised if ya found more creatures lurkin' in the bushes."

Duo looked at the forest, "Maybe…" he thought about it for a minute and brightened up, "Who cares if they're following me!"

Howard rolled his eyes; he knew where _this_ was going…

"I'm the God of Death! And a Gundam pilot! I saved the world several times! I think I can handle some creepy crawly things!" he said as he struck a dramatic pose. Making him look, of course, like a total idiot.

"Sure whatever kid, I'd be careful though. A Yeck isn't very dangerous but you just wait until they start sending manticores or dragons. Then let's see how well you do."

Duo shrugged, "Who knows, I'll live." He said as he looked at Howard, "You got anything else to tell me, or can I go on with my mission?"

Howard nodded, "Go ahead, oh! The gate's stuck so you'll have to jump over it. Millarido was suppose to fix it, but he slacks off something awful."

"AHHH!!!!" came a scream from inside the house. Duo looked just in time to see a puff of blue smoke rise from the chimney and then vanish.

"What was that?" Duo asked.

Before Howard could reply a young woman came out of the house looking rather upset.

"You! I should have known it was you!"

End Chapter two!


	3. In which many annoying characters appear...

I'M BACK!!! Sorry this one took so long!! I had writer's block! AAH! It was so horrible! I was so frightened! Lol

Anyways!!! I hope everyone who's reading this, aka mama-sama, enjoys!

The Great Hero

Chapter Three: In which many annoying characters appear!

By: the Angel of Death

Disclaimer: nothing is mine, 'cept the story! Is that an oxy moron? (ah!)

ENJOY AND R&R!!

Thank you and have a good Monday!

~*~

Duo did a double take when he saw the woman he had met at Sally's come running towards him. She was much larger then before and her wings were non-existent."Noin?" he asked. 

"Well aren't you a genius! So why exactly did my husband disappear like that?!" she demanded.

Duo looked around and noticed that Howard had conveniently vanished, "There was this little lizard guy and he-"

"A likely story!" she said as she glared at him, "Well you are the great hero, so move your butt so we can get on with this and my husband can come back." She said as she turned and walked back into her house, Duo hot on her heals.

Duo entered her house and blinked several times for good measure. 'What the…?'

The room looked like a typical fairy tale cottage should. There was a wooden table and something like a kitchen; several doors and furniture, making the room look comfortable. What surprised Duo were the large amounts of spinning wheels.

"You ummm… you have a lot of spinning wheels." He said, uncertain he wanted to know what they might mean.

Noin rolled her eyes, "Well duh. I spin straw into gold! Why wouldn't I have spinning wheels?" she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "I realize you didn't know that, but you have to realize that I'm a little upset. My husband, you see, he has a habit of disappearing on me. Last time he was gone for a year and two days! I just don't want that to happen again." She said as she moved to the mantle and picked up a picture.

Duo looked at the picture and raised an eyebrow. It was a picture frame full of little pictures of the same blond haired man. 'She's a stocker…' he thought to himself as he watched Noin start to cry over the picture.

"Umm… You okay?"

"No! My Zechs is gone!" she wailed.

Duo blinked her _what_ was gone? "Um Noin this is suppose to be rated PG, you really shouldn't say things like that." He whispered to her.

*WACK!* Noin broke the picture over Duo's head, "Oh shut up you pervert! I didn't say s*x! I said Zechs! Z-E-C-H-S! Moron."

Duo looked up and saw those annoying little birds flying around his head once again. 'Damn birds, one day I will get you…' he vowed mentally.

"So what am I doing here anyways?" Duo asked.

"I'm supposed to give you something, no matter how much I don't want to." She mumbled. 

"Well! Hand it over so I can be on my way!"

"No." she said simply.

"What? Why no?"

"I won't give you anything until you find Zechs for me!" she said as she turned her back to him. 

"What?! Why? That's not fair! Howard said his name not me!" he protested.

"I don't care." There was a flash of blue magic and Duo found himself outside, "Get going!" Noin yelled as she slammed her front door.

Duo sight, "Geez… why are women so damn bit*hy?" he mumbled.

"That is an easy question. Women are emotional because they are weaklings." Came a familiar voice.

"Wufie!" Duo said, glad to see a male again, "what are you doin' here?"

"I'm going to accompany you on your quest for a short period of time." He said as he flipped his midnight blue cloak back to reveal lose black pants and a white Chinese shirt. He wore a belt that hung off one hip, from that belt hung a nasty looking katana.

"Really?!" Duo asked, overjoyed at the prospect of some company other then Lady Une.

"Yes weakling. Now let's find Zechs so we can move on." Wufie grumbled.

Duo got the sudden impression that Wufie didn't want to be anywhere near him. So he shrugged and followed Wufie back into the forest.

~*~

A few hours latter the sun was beginning to set and Duo was hungry… again.

"Wufie! Let's stop. I need food!" he whined.

Wufie rolled his eyes and groaned, "You ate twenty minutes ago!"

Duo nodded, "Yeah! Now I'm hungry again!"

Wufie dropped to the ground in an inelegant heap. Why was he being punished like this? What had he ever done?

Duo rubbed the stone on the pouch, "Lady Une? Can we have some food, please?" he added.

There was a purple flash and food appeared, "Ask me anything else tonight and you'll be sorry." She warned as the light faded.

Duo decided not to ask for a place to sleep and turned to Wufie, "Dig in!" 

Wufie cocked an eyebrow and picked up a drumstick. 

They ate in silence; Wufie just didn't want to talk to the moron. And Duo didn't know what to say without getting yelled at.

"Umm, Wufie?" Duo asked tentatively.

"What is it?"

"Why do you freak whenever someone says Sally's name?"

Wufie flinched at the mention of her name and glared at Duo, "Why do you think I'd tell an idiot like you?"

Duo shrugged, "Well you said that only the great hero could find out. And well I'm the great hero!" he said with a smirk that he hoped Wufie couldn't see in the fading light.

Wufie glared at him and lowered his head, "I did say that didn't I?"

Duo nodded.

"Very well weakling. I will tell you." He made himself comfortable and began his story; "I have know Sally since we were very little. We were close friends in our youth and ended up in the same school training to be a magic bearers."

Duo spoke up, "What' that mean?" 

Wufie rolled his eyes, "It means I became a magician and she a witch."

Duo nodded and Wufie continued, "During our training we became closer then ever before, we were inseparable." A look of pain crossed his face, "But during our training we discovered that witches and magicians are not allowed to be together. That they are in fact supposed to be hated rivals. We ended our relationship knowing that it would be going against tradition if we continued."

Duo was taken aback, "That's it?!" he exclaimed.

Wufie looked at him in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"You broke up with Sally because of tradition?" Duo shook his head, "Man are you ever sad! You know if you guys really cared about each other you should have just said to hell with it and stayed together."

Wufie looked interested, "But it isn't done."

"What? Two people fallin' in love? Sorry Wu-man that happens all the time."

Wufie bristled at the nickname but didn't comment.

"Why don't you just start again? Nothin' stopin' you. Go for it!" Duo encouraged.

Wufie's eyes lit up, "I could… I should!" he stood up, "I will!" He turned to Duo and smiled, "Thank you Weakling, I will not forget your help."

"Hey! Where ya goin'?!" Duo exclaimed.

"I am going to see Sally. I will return at dawn." He smirked, "Maybe." He said with a knowing look in his eyes.

Duo laughed, "Go for it!"

There was a puff of blue smoke and when it cleared Wufie was gone.

Duo sighed and lay back on the grass.

"That was a nice gesture." Came a soft voice from above him.

Duo blinked and thought he saw an angel.

"Who… who are you?"

Soft blue eyes smiled at him, "My name is Princess Hilde, Great Hero Maxwell." She said, her blue hair floating around her head.

Duo stood up and looked her over, she was dressed in a long blue dress with princess sleeves and a v-neck front that Duo couldn't help but appreciate. Her most stunning feature was the large soft blue wings that protruded from her back.

"How…how did you know who I am?" he asked, trying very hard to breath.

Hilde smiled, "I know who you are good Hero. You are the one destined to save up all."

"Why are you here now?" he asked.

She looked at the ground, her eyes sad, "This isn't my true form. I'm being held captive in a tower three days away." She said sadly.

Duo jumped up, "Captive? By who?" he demanded.

"A man named Trowa." She responded.

"Trowa?" he asked, "I think I'm suppose to see him!" he exclaimed, "why would he have kidnapped you if he's one of the good guys?"

Hilde laughed, "Just because you have to get a magical item from him does not make him one of the good guys, didn't they teach you anything?" she laughed again.

Duo felt immediately taken with this girl. She was beautiful, but not only that she was happy and filled with a love of life that he had missed so much during the war… He smiled at her and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise.

"Duo!" she exclaimed.

"Hilde!" he said in the same tone.

They laughed and talked all night. Hilde was a sylph, an air elemental.Thus she had some control over wind movements and such things. She was a little shy of Duo because most people either feared her or took advantage of her powers and tried to make her use them for their benefit, like Trowa. He hadn't told her why he wanted her, but she knew he was only a middleman working for someone much more powerful.

"And when I was younger, other kids would make fun of me, they'd tease me and pretend to be my friends just so I could make it a snow day or make a tornado to destroy the school." She sighed and Duo wrapped an arm around her, "It's okay Hilde." He said.

She leaned into his embrace, "I've only just met you but I feel like I've known you forever."

Duo smiled and they stayed like that until dawn.

~*~

Duo woke up when he felt someone shaking him, "Wake up Weakling." He opened his eyes to see a devilish Wufie looking at him. 

'Well he looks happy.' Duo thought as he noticed the smirk that he couldn't help but hide. "I'm up Wufie. Did ya have fun?"

Wufie actually blushed! Duo thought he must be crazy! "I did, thank you for giving me the courage to face my fears. I owe you for that."

Duo smiled, "No prob. So tell me Wu-man, is she good in bed?"

Before Wufie realized what he was doing he answered, "Amazing… no one could be better…" he trailed off and looked at Duo, "You! You!!!" he growled.

Duo laughed. A few minutes latter, they calmed down and Duo realized something, "Hilde's gone!" he jumped up.

"I'm glad you noticed." Came a cold emotionless voice from behind them.

Wufie glared at the cloaked figure, "You! What are you doing here?!"

The figure didn't show any emotion, "Nice to see you to Wufie. I am here to help the braided idiot on his mission. Well the information part of it anyways."

Wufie looked down right pissed off, "Yuy what information could you have?"

"A lot regarding Hilde."

Duo's ears perked up at the sound of her name, "Hilde?! What about her?" he asked.

"My name is Heero Yuy, I am the resident Seer." He gave a swift bow, his deep green cloak revealing nothing about what was under neither.

"I'm Duo. Now make with the info." 

Heero nodded, "The image you saw of Hilde was her spirit body, she wasn't actually here. She's still trapped in Trowa's tower. When she woke up, her spirit returned to her body." He said curtly.

Duo nodded, "Okay, hey! Can you help me find Zechs? I wanna go find Hilde."

Heero nodded, "He's behind that rock." He pointed to a rock not three feet away.

"Damn you Yuy! I'll kill you for that!" a man with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes rushed at Heero.

Heero ducked away from him, "You know you can't beat me Zechs."He said as he sidestepped him.

"Hey! Mr. Zechs! Noin wants you! You have to go see her so I can move on with this Quest!" Duo called out.

Zechs looked at Heero, "That's not him is it?" 

Heero nodded once.

Zechs groaned, "Very well. Let's go." With a sweep of his hand they were back at Noin's cottage. 

"ZECHS!!" Came a scary high-pitched scream. 

Noin came running out to meet him, she wrapped her arms around him, "I missed you!"

Zechs embraced her tightly, "I know. You miss me if I leave to go to the bathroom."

Noin glared at him, "What's that suppose to mean?" she said, her tone dangerous.

Zechs gulped, he was in trouble now. 

Noin released him and started to yell at him. 

Duo jumped in between them before things got out of hand, "Whoa! Whoa! Hold up guys! I need to get whatever you're going to give me so I can move on!"

Noin glared one last time at Zech, "You're on the couch tonight buddy." Zechs looked at the ground and Noin turned to Duo. "Very well, come inside and give me your over coat." She said as she extended her hand.

"Why?" asked Duo as he gave her his coat.

"Because I have to sew the golden thread into it!" she said as she pulled out a needle and golden thread. With lightning quick motions she sewed the thread all through his coat.

"THERE!" she said proudly, "Now these pockets will hold anything! They can expand to any size without adding bulk or weight." 

Duo was impressed.

"Are you done then? We need to go." Wufie said coming up behind Duo.

Noin glared at him, but nodded.

"Good." Wufie grabbed Duo's braid, "Let's go."

"OOOOWWWWwwwww!!!! Bye Miss Noin! Thank you!!! Wufie let go! It hurts!!!" he whined as Wufie dragged him out the door. Heero said nothing but nodded to Zechs, earning a nasty glare from his rival.

Wufie let go of Duo and he fell to the ground clutching his precious braid, "You are a jerk Wu-man! That hurt!" Duo looked at his braid one last time before tucking it in his coat.

"Stop calling me Wu-man! My name is Wufie! Now come on! We don't have time to waste!" he said as he began walking in the direction of Trowa's tower, or so Duo assumed.

"Where are we goin'?" he asked for good measure.

"My house." Said Heero, "I need to pick up some things and give you your item." It didn't sound like he cared much.

"My item? What is it?" Duo was suddenly very eager to know, he began bouncing around Heero like a kid on Christmas morning.

"You will find out when we get there." Heero said.

"But I wanna know now!!!!"

Wufie pulled out his katana and held it to Duo's thought, "Shut up."

Duo was very happy to comply.

~*~

They had walked all day and Duo was getting tired. And hungry. Again.

"Can we eat now?" he asked.

"No." replied Heero.

"No." said Wufie.

"Please?"

"No."

"No." Duo frowned and kicked a stick into a nearby bush.

Poor foolish Duo didn't know much about this world, because it was never smart to kick a stick, or anything else for that matter, into a perfectly innocent seeming bush. Because bushes only looked innocent to maintain the idea that no one ever suspects the bush.

As was normal, the sick was thrown right back at Duo's head.

"Ow! Hey!" Duo turned around to face the bush, only to find not a shrubbery, but an annoyed looking creature Duo didn't recognize.

"Who the hell threw this stick at me?!" it demanded with it's man like head.

Heero took several steps away from the creature and Wufie drew his katana.

"What have you done now Weakling?" demanded Wufie.

"I kicked a stick! What's the big deal?" Duo asked.

Heero rolled his eyes, "I leave you to deal with this. Wufie get him to my house in one piece." He said and in a puff of green smoke he was gone.

"Heero! Heero you coward!" Wufie said as he turned to face Duo, blade always pointed at the creature.

"Do you know what that is?!" Wufie demanded.

Duo shook his head, "No idea."

"That is a Manticore! Idiot! It is a man eater!" Wufie said as the creature approached him.

"Umm excuse me…"

"A man eater?!" Duo exclaimed running backwards.

"Yes! Now he'll eat you!"

"He wouldn't!"

"Hello?" said the Manticore.

"He would and he will!"

"Then let's get out of here!" said Duo as he turned away from the Manticore.

"That is the best plan you have ever come up with!" said Wufie as he put the katana away and ran with Duo, leaving the Manticore alone.

Well almost alone.

"You know, you'd think they'd have stopped to take a good look at your face." Said a small voice from the ground.

"Well, that's Mr. Duo and Mr. Wufie for you. They don't stop to think. But despite their habit of rushing in head first, I truly believe that they will complete this mission to the very best of their abilities! They can defeat anything and anyone they come up ageist because they are truly kind people. And in the end of every fairy tale the kind people always come out on top. Do you know why Howard?"

Howard did what any basilisk in his situation would do. He looked at the Manticore.

There was a horrible scream and a final shout of, "You're such a kind person!" before the Manticore turned to stone and began to turn into dust.

"Well, kind to the readers anyway." He said as he flashed the victory sign and walked off to no doubt do something else critical to the completion of Duo's quest.

But don't fear Quatre lovers, no matter how much I would love to kill Quatre off. I just couldn't do that to Dorothy, or Trowa or whoever (though some of those pairing are messed!! AH!)

Dorothy appears from behind the scenes, "Hey! I tried to kill him, what do I care if you kill the wussy?" She demands as she brushes off her flowing white dress and (of course!) matching cape. She looks better then Dorothy could ever look with all the Dorothy haters out there. She actually looks beautiful!

Trowa walks in, "Why me? Why must everyone pair me up with the stupid pansy who only talks about his feelings and beauty! I mean really if I wanted a relationship like that I'd date women!"

Angel of Death walks out, "What the hell are you two doing here?! YOU!" she exclaims pointing to Dorothy, "Do not come in 'till chapter 6! GET BACK TO YOUR DRESSING ROOM!"

Dorothy is out bitched and leaves.

"And YOU! Shut up before Kuroi Shi and her army of TxQ worshippers come after me! You're not in for at least another page! SO GET LOST!"

Trowa also leaves.

Angel of Death turns to the readers, "Sorry about that… That was a combination of sleep-depravation, a need to get this story out, my love of making fun of Quatre and an unhealthy dose of writers block! I promise to keep any more scenes like this to a minimum! Sorry again!" walks off and Duo and Wufie appear walking towards Heero's. 

"Well I'm sure glad we avoided that fight!" said Duo proudly as he walked along happily, Wufie at his side.

Wufie just nodded, "We're here." He said as they approached the sea.

"The sea?" Duo asked, "He lives in the water?"

Wufie nodded, "With the Princess."

Duo thought about it for a minute, and began thinking, that he should be putting two and two together. He racked his brain, but he couldn't figure out what was supposed to click.

"Why?"

Wufie looked at him like he was an idiot, "You met Princess Relena did you not?"

Duo nodded, it was starting to come to him.But the whole picture was still escaping him.

"Heero lives with her, she's his fiancée." 

Duo's face lit up, "Oh!!!" he looked thoughtful again.

'All that thinking must be hurting his brain.' Wufie thought to himself.

"But hey! She's a mermaid! How do they umm…. You know." He said.

"This story is PG rated, I'm not at liberty to discuss that." Wufie said as he walked to the water's edge.

"Well then, how does Heero breath underwater?"

"Princess Relena can take the form of a human woman, and Heero can become a merman. He is a form changer and mermaids can take three forms. They can be entirely fish, the cross breed, or mermaid and fully human." He looked Duo over, "Understand?"

Duo nodded, "So are we going down there?"

"Yes we are."

"But! I'm not a fishy! I can't breath water!" Duo protested.

Wufie was considering lying to Duo and telling him he could breath underwater, just to see the weakling choke.

"I am a magician. Do you really think I wouldn't have spells for such things?" Wufie asked annoyed.

"Oh." Duo said as he approached the water.

There was a purple flash, "I am not going in there!" Came Lady Une's voice.

Duo looked at Wufie, "What do I do with her?"

"Leave her on that Quatre-rock." Wufie suggested as he pointed to the rock that Quatre hade appeared to Duo when he had met Relena.

"NEVER MIND!!!" Cried Lady Une, "I'll go in…" 

Duo smirked; he liked how Wufie's mind worked.

For his smirk however he received a shock of disapproval from Lady Une.

"Shall we?" Wufie asked.

"Whenever."

Wufie raised his arms in the air and chanted several words that Duo couldn't understand. There was a flash of dark blue light and Duo felt a tingle run though his body.

"There you can breath underwater." Wufie said as he disappeared under the surface.

"Cool!" Duo said as he dove in.

Once his eyes adjusted to the murky water Duo couldn't help but admire the scenery. There were two fish not far from his chasing each other around. One of them had claws appear out of seemingly no were and clawed the bigger one.

The bigger one swam away as fast as it could.

Duo assumed that they were cat and dogfish.

They swam deep into the sea, and Duo began to wonder if that pressure thingy was going to set in, but decided the spell was taking care of that two.

Soon they reached an underwater cave with a walkway leading to the entrance. There was a garden out front filled with plants Duo never knew existed. He began to wonder where the light was coming from as there was none lacking. In fact it was a bright at the bottom of the sea as it was on land. 

Magic he assumed. He was starting to like this place, whatever he didn't understand, he could blame on magic. It was really convenient! (For the author as well! /_\')

They approached the entrance and Wufie spoke to a fish at the entrance. He nodded and led them inside.

Duo swam in behind Wufie still wondering how much else he could blame on magic.

"Wufie! Duo! I'm so glad to see you!" called out Relena as she swam to them and hugged Duo tightly, knowing Wufie might use his katana on her if she hugged him.

"Hey, how's it goin'?" Duo asked cheerfully as he scanned the cave for Heero. 

"Can't complain, I am after all in charge." She laughed at her joke and Duo tried very hard to smile politely.

"Heehee!"

_VERY_ hard…

Heero appeared from a darkened room, "Duo come with me. I have something to give you."

Duo nodded and swam after him, trying hard not to knock anything over as he kicked. 

They entered a room that was filled with a strange dark green light, "This is my laboratory. Not even Relena has been in here." He looked at Duo meaningfully, "I want to keep it that secrete. Everything you see in here must never be reviled. Understood?" 

Duo nodded, he didn't know if he wanted to try Heero's anger.

Heero nodded and walked to a low table, "This orb can tell you anything you want to know. It's set so that you can ask it three questions. I'll leave you alone. Just remember you cannot repeat anything it reveals." Heero said as he left.

Duo looked at the orb, wondering what he should ask. He knew he wanted to know about Hilde, so…

"I want to see Hilde, if possible." Duo said.

There was a flash and Duo looked into the orb, there was Hilde. She was lying on a cold stone floor, her wings were held close to her body. For warmth, Duo assumed. She looked so sad; he saw tears running down her face. He wanted nothing more then to hold her tightly and wipe her tears away, telling her that everything would be all right. 

"Who's holding her captive?"

The picture changed and Duo was sad to see Hilde vanish.

There was a man all in dark orange sitting on a throne, looking rather smug. As he had a right to be, so far Duo had not mad a single coup against him. Other then the fairy, but could one really consider that a threat?

The man in the chair called someone to him, and Duo had a suspicion that it was Hilde. The orb was great, but there was no sound.

Hilde appeared a few moments latter and he spoke to her again. She shook her head and he slapped her.

Duo lurched forward, that bastard! Duo would kill him! The man only nodded to her fallen form and the orb when green.

"Okay, last question… Can I defeat him?"

The orb blinked and changed several colours before going black. The light from the orb faded and Heero walked in.

"You asked about the future didn't you?" he asked with a sigh.

Duo nodded, "Is that bad?"

Heero looked at the orb, "Not really, but the orb will require several days to recharge." He looked back at Duo, "Go back to your quest. After three days have passed you may return here and ask a different question." 

Duo nodded, he would have said more, but he felt bad for hurting the orb. He left the room and saw Wufie trying very hard to avoid Relena. Duo smirked in understanding.

"Come on Wufie. We're done here." 

Wufie's face brightened, "It took you long enough Weakling." He said as he nodded to Heero and left.

"Bye Heero! Bye Relena! Thanks!" Duo said as he followed Wufie back to the surface.

Wufie removed the spell for breathing air, and used one to dry their cloths, much to Lady Une's relief.

"Now where?" asked Duo.

"Now we head for Trowa's tower."

Duo nodded, he was getting closer and closer to saving Hilde. 

~*~

At duck they saw the tower come into view, it was a bright and happy place. Duo did a double take when he saw a clown dancing around out side, "Um, Wufie you sure this is the right place?"

Wufie nodded, "Yes I'm sure!" he turned to Duo, "Trowa is not a real enemy, he is being controlled by someone else."

"Who?" 

Wufie rolled his eyes, "This is your quest, not mine. You figure it out."

Duo pouted, "If you guys had all the answers from the start, why did you need me to do this? Why not just send Sally or Heero or Relena, or ever go yourself?"

Wufie glared at Duo, "You are the legendary hero. You have to do this and for a very good reason too!"

"What reason?"

Wufie turned pink then red then looked like he was going to explode.

"Wufie?"

Wufie just looked angry.

Duo understood, "You don't know do you?"

Wufie glared at Duo, "No I don't."

"So you need me to figure out why you need me?" Duo was getting dizzy.

"In simple terms yes."

"Oh!! What are the long terms?" Duo asked.

"If I told you, I'd have to bring Relena and Quatre here to help explain it."

Duo blanched, "Umm that's ok. I don't need to know! I'll stick to the simple version!"

Wufie almost laughed, "It thought you would."

They walked up to the tower and Duo looked at Wufie, "Hey, how do we get in?"

Wufie looked at him like he was an idiot, "We knock."

Duo looked surprised, "Really?! That actually works!?" he said, completely and totally amazed. That never worked in the movies!

"When someone knocks on your door do you ignore it?"

"No."

"Have you ever tried?"

"Yeah! It was hard and annoying! I finally couldn't take it anymore and then had to chase the Mormons away with Death Scythe." He admitted. He really didn't have anything against Mormons, but he was catholic after all.

Wufie nodded satisfied and proceeded to knock on the door!

~*~

END CHAPTER 3!!!!


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